[Advaita-l] Why many Advaitis are Pro Shaiva?

[V Subrahmanian]

On Sat, Aug 20, 2016 at 8:36 AM, Venkatesh Murthy via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Namaste
>
> I read somewhere Kanchi Swamiji gave explanation why many Advaitis are
> Shaiva supporting. In Adi Sankara's time Advaitis were from different
> backgrounds like Shaiva, Vaishnava, Sakta, Saura and Ganapatya. He
> brought all different groups into Advaita. Main groups were Saiva and
> Vaishnava because other groups had less followers. But Vaishnava
> Acharyas like Ramanuja and Madhva came and took away majority of
> Vaishnava Advaitis and converted them non Advaiti Vaishnavas like
> Srivaishnavas and Dvaitis.
>
> Remaining Advaitis had mainly Shaiva followers. Therefore today most
> of Advaitis are supporting Saivas and Supremacy of Siva.
>
>
> * But because they are Advaitis they will accept Abheda of Vishnu and
> Siva. They cannot and will not say Vishnu is inferior like Saivas.*


This is an important aspect to note. It was only the great Advaitin Sri
Appayya Dikshitar that said:

// viShNurvA shankaro vA shruti-shikhara-girAmastu tAtparya-bhUmiH
na-asmAkam tatra vAdaH prasarati kimapi spaShTam-advaita-bhAjAm |
kintu-Isha-dveSha-gADhAnala-kalita-hRRidAm durmatInAm duruktIH
bhanktum yatno mama-ayam nahi bhavatu tato viShNu-vidveSha-shankAm ||

The meaning of the above beautiful verse is:

'I have not the slightest objection, to anyone coming to any conclusion,
that the spirit of the Vedas and the Vedantas, declare either Vishnu or
Shiva as the First God. I am a follower of the Advaita doctrine. I have no
difference between Shiva and VishNu. But if in order to establish Vishnu as
the main God, if somebody starts abusing Shiva or hates him, I cannot bear
it. There are as many proofs or pramanas in the Vedas, Vedantas, Puranas
and Agamas to establish that Shiva is a mighty God, as there are to prove
that Vishnu is a powerful one. However, I am propagating my religion and
indulging in debate and disputation, only to persuade everyone not
to hate Shiva. Let no one have the slightest doubt that I either hate or
wish to denigrate Lord Vishnu simply because I praise the grace and
greatness of Lord Shiva.'

The sublime devotion of Dikshita to Lord Vishnu is fully seen from his
great work 'Varadaraja stava' where he has sung in ecstatic poetry about
Lord Varadaraja of Kanchipuram. Vaishnavas declare that Vishnu is the
supreme being and that Shiva has a lower status, being a mere jiva. Sri
Dikshita however proves in his 'Ratna-traya-parIkShA' that Shiva, Vishnu,
Ambika, all the three are the same, viz., the supreme reality, and proves
it with the pramanas taken from the puranas, vedas and agamas. //

The above is quoted from the book: 'Sri Appayya Dikshita' (p.66,67) by
Dr.N.Ramesan, IAS.

The above is the greatest compliance ever with the Mahabharata:

रुद्रो नारायणश्चैव सत्त्वमेकं द्विधा कृतम्।
लोके चरति कौन्तेय व्यक्तिस्थं सर्वकर्मसु।। 12-350-27a 12-350-27b.

It is One Principle that appears as Rudra and Narayana...

In the Sringeri Mutt, there are innumerable observations of religious
festivals throughout the year. Ganesha, Krishna, Vāmana, Narasimha, Krishna
Jayanti, Ramanavami, Anatapadmanabha vrata, Umamaheswara vrata, Varalakshmi
vrata, Tulasi festival utthāna dvādaśi, etc. etc. One can see the mix in
these.

Even the names of the Sannyasins: Narasimha Bharati, Purushottama Bharati,
Chandrashekhara Bharati, Vidhushekhara Bharati, Mādhvānanda, Krishnananda,
etc. One Advaita maṭha has Chaturbhuja Pattabhirama as the main deity.
Another has Bālakrishna as the mūla devatā.

regards
vs



>
> --
> Regards
>
> -Venkatesh
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